


A Classical Duet

by annamator



Series: Saint Canard Cryptids [3]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: M/M, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26230252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annamator/pseuds/annamator
Summary: Vincent Kapoor, finally ready to move on from his previous relationship with Steelbeak, has become interested in yet another FOWL agent. And the timing couldn’t have been worse...
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Series: Saint Canard Cryptids [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647364
Kudos: 9





	A Classical Duet

After being escorted by one of Vincent's many caretakers, Agent Bruly found himself in front of an elaborate large oak door. From it, he could hear Vincent playing his violin. Since he could remember, whenever he heard him practice, it was always a fearsome and strenuous tone. It was very telling of his quick-to-anger personality. This time, however, Bruly could hear a lighter, pleasant tune. It was no less passionate but it was still a stark contrast to the norm.

Vincent must have been in a really good mood.

It wasn’t Bruly’s first time being the bearer of bad news. He was plenty used to it. Being such a stoic person allowed him to shoulder a lot of things other agents shied away from. He prided himself on that.

After a short period, Bruly opened the door and walked through. The room was grandiose and filled with tall bookshelves and a grand piano next to a large window. Vincent was poised in the middle of the room underneath a chandelier with a music stand filled with sheet music. The violin Vincent had been playing abruptly stopped. The peafowl turned towards his fellow agent in a mild shock.

“Bruly? What are you doing here?” Vincent asked.

“You weren’t picking up. High Command says it's urgent,” Bruly said.

Vincent looked over to his phone on the windowsill, noting the length of alerts on the locked screen. “Oh, I see. Well what is it, then?” he asked as he set down his violin in a nearby stand.

“You’re not gonna like it. You sure you don’t wanna talk about that first?” Bruly asked, gesturing to his violin.

“Since when have you ever cared about my feelings?” Vincent asked, confused.

Truth be told, Bruly wanted to soften the blow of High Command’s orders somehow. “Liked the melody. Something must be going on with you.”

Vincent’s light blue feathers stood on end and a blush crept on his purple beak. “If you must know, I’ve grown… fond of someone,” Vincent admitted.

“That Edward guy? Haven’t you two been beating around the bush for a while now?” Just like that, Vincent’s tail feathers flicked upwards slightly on pure instinct. “Y’know, for a ‘sociopath’, you sure have one hell of a tell.”

Vincent cleared his throat. “Well it can’t really be helped, can it? The heart is a fickle thing. Alright now, tell me what’s going on,” he said in a demanding tone.

Bruly sniffed a little and sat down at the piano bench. “Sure you don’t wanna sit down?” he asked.

“Get on with it,” Vincent snapped.

“High Command wants you to go back to Saint Canard, tomorrow,” Bruly finally said.

In an instant, Vincent’s world shattered around him. Saint Canard was considered the home of Steelbeak. Everyone amongst FOWL knew that. More importantly, Steelbeak was his ex-husband. Being in that territory meant, at some point, Vincent might run into him. “Saint Canard? Me? Why?” Vincent asked, his face pale.

“You’re still a recruiter. And they said there’s another person of interest there for the ranks,” Bruly told him.

“I… I can’t…” Vincent said, holding his beak and feeling his stomach twist.

“Gonna have to. Orders from the top, after all.”

Vincent looked to Bruly, “You can come with me, right?” he asked, panic laced in his voice.

As much as he didn’t want to, they were designated partners. Bruly rolled his eyes, “Yeah, they told me to go with you,” he said.

“Thank God. I don’t think I could handle going there alone. I have so many memories attached to that horrid place. I still can’t believe I spent so much time there,” Vincent hissed.

“Probably why they thought you could go,” Bruly pointed out, “I don’t like it either, it got comfy here in the countryside.”

“So, who’s the target?” Vincent asked, grabbing his phone and leafing through his notifications.

“Some dog who’s been on FOWL’s radar for a few years or so--” Bruly began.

“Alright, alright, I’ll find the e-mail soon enough. Go ahead and make the necessary travel preparations. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another guest arriving soon,” Vincent said, not even looking up from his phone as he waved his hand at Bruly to shoo him away as if he were a common housefly.

Bruly raised his eyebrow at Vincent. This behavior was typical of Vincent, treating him like he was less than. Having other visitors, however, was not. It wasn’t in him to ask about it, though. Despite so many years of working with Vincent he tried his damndest to keep at arm's length from him; emotionally, that is.

After deciding he didn’t want to face any more whining or complaining from Vincent, Bruly stood up and walked out of the room. Before he could close the door, he nearly ran into another figure.

“Oh! Pardon me,” a voice exclaimed.

Bruly looked at the tall and broad shouldered osprey in front of him. It was none other than Agent Edward in his fancy white ascot and deep blue velvet coat. Bruly simply rolled his eyes and walked past. He was happy to be out of their vicinity. The two of them were disgustingly lovesick when they were together and Bruly wanted no part in it.

Edward walked inside, his yellow eyes scanning the beautiful and elaborate room. Then, his eyes fell onto Vincent, “Hello, pardon the intrusion,” he called out.

Vincent looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. His tail feathers flared up behind him and he looked directly at Edward. “Oh! Hello, Edward,” Vincent said, holding a hand to his hammering heart.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Edward said, showing a great deal of concern.

“It’s quite alright, I’m just fine. You’re a bit early,” Vincent said.

“Oh. Were you busy? I just saw Bruly leave…”

“Bruly and I were just catching up. You can relax, I assure you.”

Edward wasn’t quite sure how he could relax, seeing as this was the first time he had ever set foot inside Vincent’s abode. While Edward had been well acquainted with Vincent at this point, they had both taken things rather slow. It was something that had manifested due to Edward’s gentlemanly nature. A stark contrast to what Vincent had gone through with Steelbeak. A good contrast, in his opinion. 

Admittedly, Edward hadn’t always been so sure Vincent even wanted him in the same vicinity, let alone in his own home. Vincent had been off-putting, rude and irritable whenever Edward was around. Despite this, Edward made many efforts to please the peafowl and get on his good side. It took a few encounters for Edward to realize the small crack in Vincent’s armor. That his hostility was merely a front, possibly some form of self-defense. Once he understood that, Edward felt more emboldened.

Edward’s eyes trailed back over to the grand piano he saw in the room. He approached it slowly as if it were a timid animal. Vincent smiled widely as Edward felt the ivory keys. “Is this…”

“An Akiyama? Of course,” Vincent said with pride in his chest, “I have an assortment of their musical instruments. This particular one is quite old, as I’m sure you can tell.”

“Incredible,” Edward breathed then turned towards Vincent, “May I?” he asked.

“Please,” Vincent said with a slight bow.

Edward sat down at the piano, draping his fancy coat tails over the piano’s bench. Immediately, as though his hands were magnetized to the piano, he played the scale in a lovely and harmonious fashion. “Do you tune it yourself?” Edward asked immediately afterwards.

Vincent simply chuckled, “Oh heavens, no. But I do have someone to come ‘round about every few months to do so.”

“Well, it’s still in lovely condition,” Edward complimented.

“Thank you. If you’d like, I have some sheet music...” Vincent said as he pulled off some pages from his music stand, “So perhaps we can play together?” he asked as he presented them.

Edward took them from Vincent’s hand. “That sounds lovely, Vincent. I apologize in advance if I stumble, that last mission I had in Egypt didn’t leave me any room to practice,” he complained mildly.

“I’m sure you’ll play splendidly,” Vincent said as he turned towards his violin’s stand.

A light blush crept up on Edward’s grey beak. He couldn’t help but notice that Vincent was a bit out of character, but the osprey didn’t mind. “I’ll certainly try,” he said. Edward skimmed the sheet music and found the necessary information to start while he placed the pages on the proper stand.

Vincent picked up his violin and placed it underneath his long neck. His brown eyes looked towards Edward like they would have if he had been in an orchestra’s chair. He saw Edward count the timing and begin to gently play, when he looked towards Vincent, the peafowl gently chimed in with his violin.

As they played together, Edward could tell Vincent was giving him a bit of his own flourish to the song. He smiled softly and tickled the keys in response. This was his way of saying he wasn’t afraid to do the same. Edward continued to look back and forth between the music in front of him and Vincent. It was hard to look away when the bird was so colorful and sureine in his element.

Vincent was counting on that. He had always been the center of attention and he liked to keep it that way. Vincent saw the way Edward was looking at him. To ease his troubles, Vincent walked closer to the piano and to his side while he continued to play. Edward began to smile again at Vincent, noting just how close he was.

In this moment, in this room, Edward felt a sense of contentment. Most of all, he was happy to share it with Vincent. The same peafowl whom he had shared a certain companionship with for years now. How it had taken them this long to play together, Edward wasn’t entirely sure. Perhaps it had been in the way he had been spending so long courting Vincent. Sending him flowers, giving him small gifts, chatting lightly in the workplace and even teaming up at work on a few rare occasions. The way they played in such consecutive harmony made it feel and sound as though they had been doing it for a millenia.

Seeing Edward in such a state of bliss made Vincent’s chest swell with love and adoration. Standing tall before his crush, playing such a beautiful melody, made Vincent feel untouchable. He watched as Edward turned the page. The end of their song was fast approaching. Vincent could tell Edward was drawing it out slightly and he could hardly blame him. He wished with all of his heart that this could continue forever.

Except, he knew it couldn’t. Not with his mission to Saint Canard looming over his head.

On Edward’s cue, the song stopped. Vincent lowered his violin from his neck as the two of them looked deeply into each other's eyes. Vincent was about to say something until Edward spoke first, “I love you,” he said.

There was a large clatter when Vincent’s violin hit the hardwood floor. He let it fall and he grabbed his beak as he felt it burn. Finally, after so long, a confession. He felt his knees grow weak and his eyes sting with tears. “I- I love you too,” Vincent breathed in a trembling voice.

Edward stood up from the piano, more concerned that Vincent would fall over at a moment’s notice than the fact that the violin he had dropped. “Are you alright?” Vincent heard him ask as he leaned more into his strong arms.

Vincent nodded, his crest feathers bobbing rapidly and the tears flowing from his eyes in sweet relief. “Yes, I’m- I’m perfectly fine,” he said.

Edward brushed a thumb along the edge of Vincent’s eyes to help wipe away his tears. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“I’m just so goddamn happy. I love you, I’ve always loved you, Edward Osprey,” Vincent told him.

“I apologize--”

“Don’t apologize. Just say it, damn it…”

“...I love you?”

"Yes, God…”

“I love you,” Edward said and embraced Vincent further, “I love you, Vincent Kapoor.”

For a while, Vincent didn’t move. He didn’t want to move. Except, he knew he had to for what he was going to say. Vincent pulled away from Edward’s embrace. They looked at one another for so long, Edward was starting to lean into a kiss. However, his lover stopped him. “Edward… High Command gave me a new mission, starting tomorrow…” he said.

Edward didn’t see the problem. “So you’ll be away for a few weeks… I’ll still be here. It’ll pass by faster than--”

“The mission is in Saint Canard,” Vincent interrupted.

“Of course it is,” Edward said as his expression turned sour. He started to feel angry at everyone and everything except Vincent. He knew all about Steelbeak and their former relationship. Everyone did. So the assignment just seemed cruel and unusual.

“FOWL has plenty of recruiters. I’m only one of many. Maybe I can pull a few strings...” Vincent trailed.

“No, it’s alright. You go. If High Command wants you there, you’re going to be perfect for the job. I know you’ll do it fast and efficiently,” Edward told him.

At that, Vincent smiled. This man was an absolute dream. “Where the bloody hell have you been all my life?” he asked.

“I guess I’ll have to save that for another time--”

“No!” Vincent immediately shouted. He whirled around and began to pull Edward across the hardwood floor by the wrist, “We’re opening a bottle of wine and we’re swapping our life stories over a celebratory dinner!”

“W- well alright!” Edward shouted back, with a smile painted across his face.

Edward assumed Vincent was being more enthusiastic because he would have to leave sometime tomorrow. Tonight, they were together and that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Got tired of sitting on this piece while I’ve been dealing with writer’s block. Bruly belongs to glazorkart on tumblr. Edward belongs to Eleanorose123 aka thefriendlyfour on tumblr. 
> 
> And just so we’re clear: Edward and Vincent’s ship name is Classical Duet. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! I'd love to hear about your favorite line.


End file.
